DVDs are information storage devices used for storing prerecorded audio information, movies and computer software. The storage and playback mechanism used in DVD players uses laser technology that permits data to be stored as a pattern of pits formed in a metallic substrate. The pit patterns form digital words and can be read by shining a laser beam on the disc surface and detecting the reflected beam. The information storage capacity of a typical DVD is very large and there are a variety of capacities which depend on the technology used to manufacture the discs. This high information storage capacity makes DVDs suitable for storing not only audio information, but also video information and large amounts of computer data as well.
DVD players have various features, such as the ability to play selections in any order desired and the ability to read information from any point on the disc. DVDs can also store information in several formats. For example, DVDs which are used to store video information may use various known information compression algorithms, such as MPEG-2 for video compression/decompression. A DVD can also include high fidelity sound data. In addition, a DVD can also store uncompressed linear pulse code modulated data streams which have sample rates between 48-90 kHz and are sampled at 16 or 24 bits. Still other DVD versions can store digital data for computer use, and the data may also be compressed on these discs.
One popular use of DVDs is to store movies along with other information that a user can view. Typically, a movie is divided into so-called titles and chapters. Each title is associated with some aspect of a movie and the individual chapters within a title are likewise associated with their respective titles. For example, one title might be associated with an FBI warning. Another title might be associated with the movie content itself and can have many associated chapters each of which are individually associated with particular portions of the movie content. Yet another title might be associated with the wide screen version of the movie and can have, itself, several associated chapters. Another title might be associated with the movie's trailers.
DVD players typically provide the user or viewer, via a user interface, the ability to view only very basic information associated with a DVD's chapters and titles. This information has typically not been descriptive information pertaining to the chapters and titles, but rather only chapter and title numbers.
Past user interfaces have also been very simplistic in their design and have provided only primitive and very basic navigation commands and capabilities. These past systems have tended to rely on the DVD's own and often very cryptic menu system which provides no direct access to the DVD's physical structure.
Additionally, the manner in which chapter and title data is provided for the user often makes for a disjointed user experience. For example, in many systems there is a menu button that is presented to the user. During the presentation of a movie, the user can click on the menu button to access the DVD's menu. When the menu is accessed, the user is typically taken out of the context of the movie (i.e. the movie disappears) and a menu appears for the user. The user must then further enter the layered structure of the menu to get at a particular chapter within a particular title. Many times, though, only the chapter and title numbers are displayed. Thus, it is incumbent on the user to know exactly where they want to go. Needless to say, this is not the best user experience, particularly for those users who are not acquainted with the particular structure of the DVD's titles and chapters.
Accordingly, this invention arose out of concerns associated with providing systems and methods that can greatly enhance a user's DVD experience.